US: FDA to tighten food import laws

By: just-food.com | 19 September 2008

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a proposed rule designed to reduce a practice known as "port shopping" which, the agency said, puts the safety of imported food at risk.

"This system will make it more difficult for food importers to evade import controls after being denied admission into the United States," said Randall Lutter, Ph.D., deputy commissioner for policy. "It will complement our ongoing efforts to monitor food imports."

When the FDA refuses to admit a food into the US, the food must be exported or destroyed. But, the FDA said, some persons attempt to bring the refused food back into the US in the same condition by shipping it to another US port in the hope that the food will be admitted there.

The proposed regulation would require that shipping containers of food barred from entry, and any accompanying documents, be labelled as refused. The label would make it easier for the FDA to detect previously-refused food.

Under the proposed rule, all owners or consignees of refused food would be required to affix a label to the shipping container that reads: "UNITED STATES: REFUSED ENTRY" in clear, conspicuous, print. A label would also have to be affixed to all documents accompanying the imported food such as invoices, bills of lading, and electronic documents.

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